Greyhounds hope for more of the same after win (video, 5 photos)

It was a battle between two teams that have started the Ontario Hockey League regular season well and for the Soo Greyhounds, there was a lot to like as the team wrapped up a four game homestand at the GFL Memorial Gardens on Wednesday night.

A goal by Marc Boudreau in the second period was the game-winner as the Greyhounds picked up a 3-1 win over the Kitchener Rangers Wednesday in a game where the Sault coaching staff said playing away from the puck turned into the difference for the home team.

“We asked for a more committed effort to our play and structure without the puck and I give our guys a lot of credit,” said Greyhounds coach John Dean. “It’s not always the most fun thing to do, but it helps win games against good hockey clubs and today, that was the difference for us.”

For the Rangers, coach Mike McKenzie said the team was “outskated, outclassed, and outworked for at least 40 minutes of the game.”

“That’s what happens when teams play harder and play quicker,” McKenzie added. “You end up chasing the puck a lot and that was where we found ourselves today.”

The Greyhounds opened the scoring in the first period on the power play as Cole MacKay found himself in close to the Kitchener goal where he redirected a point shot by defenceman Ryan O’Rourke past Rangers goaltender Pavel Cajan.

Kitchener got on the board early in the second period as rookie Carson Rehkopf took a pass from Matthew Sop at the top of the crease and beat Samuel Ivanov glove side 2:57 into the frame.

The Greyhounds retook the lead at 6:03 when Boudreau went to the net and redirected a shot by Tyler Savard 5-hole on Cajan for what turned into the game-winner for the home side.

“We dumped the puck in on the forecheck and the puck got put up the boards to Sav and he shot it on net,” Boudreau said of the goal. “Me and Bryce (McConnell-Barker) were going to the net and I just tipped it in 5-hole.”

Boudreau called the goal “huge.”

“The shift before that, we were hemmed in our zone, so the energy was shifting to their side,” Boudreau said. “The goal shifted the energy to our side and gave us a momentum boost.”

Dean credited Boudreau and the line as a whole for rebounding to get the game-winner after being on the ice for the Rangers goal earlier in the period.

“They scored on Boudy’s line, and he heard it when he came back to the bench,” Dean said. “I love when players go out and respond in a positive way and we’ve been challenging him to get in front of the net and use that big body of his and he goes right to the net and Savy makes a great choice in getting the puck there. It’s a big goal. The bench gets lifted again.”

Tanner Dickinson sealed the win for the Greyhounds with 1:59 to go in regulation time when he beat Cajan high glove side.

Dickinson finished the night with a goal and an assist while Ivanov made 21 saves, including 11 in the third period.

Cajan made 32 saves for the Rangers.

“He was really good,” McKenzie said. “He’s been great all season and he was good again tonight. It was no fault of his. He actually kept us in it longer than we probably should have been.”

The two clubs wrap up the home-and-home set on Friday night in Kitchener in the opening game of a short two-game road trip for the Greyhounds that wraps up on Saturday night in Guelph against the Storm.

“I want to see the same commitment to playing without the puck and managing the puck,” Dean said of Friday’s rematch. “At the end of the day, outcomes are important, but it’s definitely about the process for us. We need to see us put together that kind of commitment two games in a row.”

For McKenzie, the Rangers bench boss hopes to see more energy from his club.

“We were going backward a lot tonight and we weren’t in sync,” McKenzie said. “We weren’t connected at all. A little more urgency from the drop of the puck (is needed). We can’t have a start like that again.”

Wednesday’s win improves the Greyhounds record to 6-3-0-0 on the season while the Rangers fall to 5-2-0-0. The Rangers have lost two straight after opening the season with five consecutive wins.

On Wednesday afternoon, Greyhounds general manager Kyle Raftis confirmed that forward Dominic Mufarreh was put on waivers by the club.

The 19-year-old had yet to play in a regular season game with the club this season.

Drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 OHL Priority Selection, Mufarreh got into nine games with the Greyhounds in 2018-19 before suiting up in 32 games during the 2019-20 season.

In 41 career games with the Greyhounds, Mufarreh scored six goals and assisting on four others.

Raftis said in a phone conversation that Mufarreh has returned home and is currently weighing his options.